


Mes Parents

by ReinbewPastel



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies), Pirates of the Caribbean: Jack Sparrow - Rob Kidd
Genre: Gen, Young Jack Sparrow, jack sparrow books, pirates of the caribbean - Freeform, rob kidd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:08:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28087500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReinbewPastel/pseuds/ReinbewPastel
Summary: Jack Sparrow has his first encounter with the compass that doesn't point north when he replaces his old one. After he realizes the compass points to what the user wants most, the crew of the Barnacle decide to use it to help Jean and Constance find their parents.Fanfiction by me, Reinbew PastelPirates of the Caribbean Jack Sparrow by Rob Kidd © Disney Press
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

Captain Jack Sparrow sat cross-legged on the middle of the deck aboard his mighty _Barnacle_. He had just recently bought a new compass from a town within one of the Leeward Islands to replace his old one that was stepped on by his annoying aristocratic crew member Fitzwilliam P. Dalton III. While comparing his new compass to the ship's compass at the helm, Jack realized it did not work properly. The dial spun around and pointed in the completely wrong direction, and it would in fact not point north at all. To the annoyance of his crew, all he had done in the past three days was trying to get the compass to work, refusing to believe he was ripped off.

Jack picked up the compass sitting in front of him and shook it. He then opened it and laid it back down on the deck. It spun and it spun, not pointing to any particular direction.

"Give it up, Jack," his first mate Arabella Smith said, standing a few feet in front of him. "That thing is never going to work. Trade it in for another one at our next port."

"No," Jack quickly grabbed the compass and put it to his chest. "It's a pretty compass." He was right. The compass was in an octagonal shape, and it was painted black with an off-white trim. The dial was also painted beautifully.

"At least your last compass worked," Fitzwilliam remarked.

"Until _you_ stepped on it with your big foot!" Jack snapped.

"Then stop leaving your things on the ground below deck."

Jack ignored Fitzwilliam. "Besides, I think there's something else to this compass," He stood up onto his feet. "It seems to point to what I want." He closed it and shook it. He then opened it and the dial spun, finally pointing to....Arabella. Jack snickered. Arabella put her hands on her hips and scowled at him, knowing the compass was pointing to her.

The compass was suddenly swiped from Jack's hands. Now in the hands of Fitzwilliam, he closed it and then delicately opened it. The dial spun, and it stopped at.... _Jack?_ Fitzwilliam frowned, closing it and giving it a shake. He opened the compass again and it still pointed to Jack.

"This compass is a piece of junk," Fitzwilliam grumbled.

Jack crept up on Fitzwilliam to see what the compass pointed to, however the aristocrat immediately slammed the compass shut.

Jack's youngest crew member Tumen quietly took the compass. He opened it and a soft smile appeared on his face as the rest gathered around him to see the compass. The dial pointed to a direction past them beyond the seemingly endless sea.

"Where is it pointing to?" Jack asked.

"Home," Tumen replied. "Yucatán."

"I wonder if the compass will point to the direction of _mes parents_ ," Jack's other younger shipmate Jean Magliore interjected. Jean's cat-turned sister Constance was gathered up into his arms. She purred at the mention of their parents. Everybody turned to Jean.

"Your parents?" Fitzwilliam asked.

"I haven't heard a word about your parents since you've come aboard, lad," Jack said. "Fitzy's da' is the Earl and his mum is dead,"

"That's a nice way to put it," Fitzwilliam commented with a huff.

Jack went on. "Arabella's da' is a drunk tavern owner and her mum is dead," Arabella looked hurt by how blunt Jack was, "and Tumen's family is in Yucatán."

"What about _your_ parents, Jack?" Arabella asked.

"Mine?" Jack realized he had never mentioned anything about his family to his crew. He was never the one to discuss the very thing he was running away from. "My parents are dead," Jack answered dismissively.

"Are you being _honest_ _?"_ Fitzwilliam queried.

"All right, one is dead and the other is dead _to me_. Can we focus on Jean please?" Jack urged impatiently.

" _Ma sœur_ and I haven't seen our parents in many years," Jean told the crew. "In fact, I believe Constance just began walking at the time," he scratched Constance under the chin, "and I was only a mere child the last we saw of them."

"May I ask what happened to them?" Arabella questioned, engaged in his story.

"I have no idea to be honest," Jean said, "We were sent away to some relatives nearby, then to the care of sailors when we were only a bit older. We've been out at sea for years and then we had our encounter with Tia Dalma," Constance flattened her ears and hissed. "I know, _ma petite_. You don't like hearing that name," Jean consoled his sister. He continued, "then we met Tumen and now here we are. I don't know the fate of my parents. I barely remember what they even looked like. I've hoped to reunite with them someday."

"Perhaps we could use the compass to help ye with that," Arabella stated.

"Yes, I would love to meet the people who conceived _that_ thing," Jack said pointing at Constance. Constance hissed at Jack and Jean glared at him. The cat leapt out of Jean's arms and began licking her paw.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to go out of the way from our mission to unite these two with their parents," Fitzwilliam said.

"Really? You would do that?" Jean beamed, his green eyes sparkling in excitement.

"Of course!" Jack replied sincerely, "You are a great friend to all of us."

"And we want to do this for you, Jean," Tumen said placing the compass in Jean's hands.

The crew spent the rest of the day charting out their next course. According to the map, the compass seemed to be pointing towards New Orleans.

"This seems right because my sister and I are from there," Jean said looking down at the compass in his hand. Jack and Tumen stared at the map on the table in front of them.

"You said the fate of your parents is unknown, right Jean?" Jack asked.

" _Oui_ ," Jean answered, his eyes still fixated on the compass.

"I'd hate to break it to you, mate, but don't fully guarantee you'll find your parents....alive," Jack warned with uncertainty.

"What do you mean?"

"The compass may or may not lead you to the New Orleans graveyard."

"Jack, stop it!" Arabella smacked Jack upside the head. "I'm sure ye will find your parents alive and well," she reassured Jean.

"They are probably waiting for you," Tumen said, backing her up.

Jean smiled.

"I'm just being realistic here, lass," Jack replied. "The odds are they could still be alive."

"How will they feel about seeing your sister turned into a cat? I'd doubt they will believe you," Fitzwilliam mused.

Jean thought for a moment. Constance strutted over to Jean and ran through his legs. "There would be a lot of explaining, but being from New Orleans where anything can happen, I'm sure they wouldn't have a hard time believing it."

Just over a week later, the Crescent City came into view along the horizon, as if it had rose up from out of nowhere.

" _Nouvelle-Orleans!_ I've missed you so much!" Jean cried. Constance mewed happily.

"I'm happy we're bringin' Jean and Constance to meet their parents," Arabella said with a smile.

"Yes, yes," Jack rolled his eyes. He needed most of his concentration on steering the _Barnacle_ into harbor.

After some trouble with the port master, Jean lead them through the streets of New Orleans with the compass in hand. He pointed out all the nostalgic landmarks along the way. Cobblestone roads, brightly painted houses, wrought-iron balconies, and shuttered windows. All different kinds of people roamed the streets, not just pirates.

"They do massages here?" Fitzwilliam questioned as they passed by a massage parlor.

"Ah, well....yes, but...secretly not really," Jean replied sheepishly.

"Oh, so it's a brothel!" Jack exclaimed.

"Not exactly," Jean corrected.

Fitzwilliam blushed.

"What's a brothel?" Tumen asked innocently.

"Hopefully a place _she_ ," Jack gestured to Arabella, "won't end up having to work at someday."

Arabella slapped Jack on the arm. "Watch yer mouth!" She tossed her auburn hair over her shoulder.

The crew continued down the streets. Along the way, they encountered magicians, mystics, and tea-leaf readers. Fitzwilliam fought off fortune tellers and Arabella tried to convince an ancient looking mystic that she didn't need dolls and potions. Even Jack himself was offered to buy what seemed to be a testicle of a mysterious animal, which he gave into his temptations and bought since he liked the strange and unusual.

Jack was quite relieved to finally be on a mission that went straight to the point. No enemies to get in their way, no side quests, just a compass pointing them directly to treasure, a treasure very special to two of his crew members.

Jean stopped for a moment and stared at the compass.

Jack slid up beside him. "Where is it leading to, mate?" He took a peek at the compass. He looked up from the dial to see it pointing straight to a restaurant. "Your parents are in the restaurant?"

Jean took a deep breath, breathing in the delicious air from all the restaurants and taverns cooking many famous Creole dishes for the evening crowd. "Étouffée...." he said softly.

"Oh, I think the lad is goin' on about food again," Arabella smiled.

"Get your head on straight, Jean!" Jack said, slapping the boy upside the head. "We've got your mum and da' to find."

"Of course, _je regrette_ ," Jean apologized, shaking his head. "It's just...I haven't been here in so long...and I miss all of my favorite Creole delicacies..." He went back under his food spell.

The rest of the crew gathered around him and the compass. The compass still pointed to the restaurant.

"Jack, I think the very thing Jean wants most at the moment is food," Arabella pointed out. "The compass isn't going to lead us to his parents until he gets something to eat. And besides," Arabella put a hand to her stomach, "I'm a wee hungry, too."

"I'm a little hungry as well," Fitzwilliam said.

"Me too," Tumen agreed.

Constance trotted over to Jack and dropped a rat paw at his foot, signaling she was hungry as well. Jack had to admit, he was also beginning to feel a bit peckish. The crew hadn't eaten in a while.

"All right then," Jack gave in. "We'll go ahead and fulfill our hunger. This is Jean's mission, and we'll follow to wherever his heart desires."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **(A/N: I wanted to make the arrival to New Orleans brief since they already went through it in the books and I don't want to make an exact copy. Enjoy!)**


	2. Chapter 2

The sun was close to setting as the crew of the _Barnacle_ stood before a looming forest of trees. Jack was in the front alongside Jean with a lantern in hand.

"Um, I don't know about this..." Tumen expressed worriedly.

"Tumen's right," Arabella admitted, "It's about to be dark. Could we do this in the morning?"

"Are you sure this is the right direction we are supposed to be going?" Fitzwilliam questioned.

"The compass says so," Jean replied, looking down at the tool in his hands. Even _he_ sounded a bit nervous.

Jack was the only one who remained positive. "The crew of the _Barnacle_ doesn't delay here, mates! I've got a light here that will lead the way. Besides, nothing more than a bit of darkness can stop us. Makes for a great adventure. Savvy?"

" _Droite_ ," Jean agreed. "If we find my parents tonight, we can sail out of New Orleans by dawn. They shouldn't be too hard to find. According to this compass, they could possibly be in a shack in the middle of the forest or in a bayou."

Fitzwilliam and Arabella exchanged glances and Tumen looked down at his feet.

"What are we waiting for? Onward!" Jack toasted, holding the lantern out towards the forest.

As the forest wasn't already gloomy enough, it quickly grew dark and everything began to seem a lot more spookier. Dozens and dozens of trees laid ahead of them seemingly for miles. The large branches covered in Spanish moss hung, blocking any moonlight from showing through. Plants, brushes, and tree roots covered parts of the wet soil.

The only light source they had was from the lantern Jack led them with. Jack also found a walking stick along the way, standing about as tall as Fitzwilliam, and he used it to guide them through as they could barely see the ground below them. Jean glanced down at the compass from time to time, making sure he was leading them in the right direction. The compass was barely visible under the illumination of Jack's lantern. Constance trailed closely behind Jean as did Tumen, and Arabella and Fitzwilliam stuck closely together.

Nightfall did not help with the humidity. The air was hot and muggy, and everything was moist. Sweat ran down everyone's face, neck, and back. Not to mention the critters that resided in this forest. A buzzing noise rang in everyone's ears from throughout the forest and they swatted away flying insects. Occasionally they would hear rustling in the bushes, which they concluded it was either a raccoon or a snake. Jean picked up Constance fearing she would be bitten by one of those snakes. Although they've only hiked for just over an hour, the crew was already covered in mosquito bites on their arms and neck.

"I hope we don't get malaria," Fitzwilliam muttered.

"Ugh, I'm used to the heat, but—OH DISGUSTING!" Arabella shrieked. A large spider had dropped in front of her hanging by a web. She carefully walked around it, not knowing if the spider was venomous or not.

Jean looked back at his friends in worry. Jack gave him a reassuring glance.

"I'm sorry, my friends," Jean apologized. "I didn't know my heart's desire would lead us all the way into the tropics. I thought it would just lead us to a home somewhere in the middle of the city."

"Stop worrying, mate," Jack said, "We're all having fun in this little—I would say, _mini adventure_."

"We've said this before and we'll say it again, we'll do what we can to help ye and the cat find your parents," Arabella said, beginning to feel bad for complaining about the conditions they were in.

Soon after, Jack stopped and the rest of the crew halted behind him.

"Why did we stop all the sudden?" Fitzwilliam asked, confused.

"We hit a dead end," Jack held up the lantern and all that lay ahead of them was a giant swamp. Weeds and trees sprouted out of the musty water.

"Where is the compass leading to?" Tumen questioned.

Jack casted the light over the compass as Jean looked down. The compass still pointed straight ahead with no indication of any shack or anything else anyone could inhabit along the swamp.

The teenagers pondered on what to do as they couldn't turn back at this point. Jack looked up and down the swamp. As far as the light shone, he could see no other way around.

"We could...cross it?" Jack suggested.

Arabella frowned. "Absolutely not, Jack! We don't know what could be in there!"

" _Oui_ , our swamps and bayous are known for alligators," Jean informed.

"I could take one for the team and find out," Jack said with a shrug.

"You are _mad!_ " Fitzwilliam said in disbelief as Jack handed him the lantern.

Without hesitation, Jack stepped into the swamp and slowly walked in, using his stick to guide him and detect the depth. Fitzwilliam stepped ahead of the group close to the water to give Jack some light. The rest of the crew watched anxiously as the water rose up their captain's legs. When the water reached his waist, Jack planted the stick into the bottom of the swamp just an arms length ahead, indicating the swamp was getting a bit deeper. Jack turned back to his crew.

"It's a little deeper than I thought," Jack called out. "But I think we should be fine."

The crew looked at each other. After a moment of thought, they nodded. Jean handed Fitzwilliam the compass knowing Fitz was the tallest and would probably come out the other side driest.

Fitzwilliam walked in and the rest followed, careful not to trip on anything. The water bubbled around them and their feet kept getting stuck in the sinking mud below. Arabella cringed at the feeling.

"Oh, my clothes are utterly ruined now," Fitzwilliam complained.

"Shut up about your clothes already," Jack snickered, grabbing his stick as they proceeded.

The group of friends silently waded through the swamp, keeping their ears open for any creatures nearby. At the deepest, the water was up to Jack and Arabella's chest. Fitzwilliam kept his arms above water as he held the lantern with one hand and the compass with the other. Jean and Tumen struggled the most as they were shorter. Constance was perched upon Jean's shoulders, digging her claws into him trying to keep herself out of the water, which was only an inch or so below her.

Jack heard something. "Wait, _shh!_ " he shushed his crew as he held an arm out to stop them. Then they all heard it. Something broke the surface of the water and went back under. The air around them felt tense.

"We should carry on, but hurry," he whispered.

They moved forward quickly, but not enough to attract any attention from whatever it was that they heard. Not long after, Jack and Fitzwilliam spotted the other side of the swamp from their light.

The crew finally trudged out of the swamp to shore, dripping in mud.

"How gross!" Arabella muttered, wringing out parts of her dress.

Tumen sat and pulled off his shoes, pouring water out of them.

Constance hopped off Jean's shoulders and shook herself, flattening her ears and hissing. Jean thanked Fitzwilliam as he wiped his hands on the aristocrat's still dry chest before taking back the compass.

Fitzwilliam sighed. His perfect blue jacket adorned with gold trim and polished buttons was now completely soaked in swamp and mud from the waist down.

"All right, we got one obstacle over with!" Jack proclaimed. "What else will this venture bring us?"

All the sudden, a loud crash of thunder hit and the darkness of the forest briefly filled with lightening. Everyone jumped. As quick as the thunder and lightening came, rain began to downpour on the crew. Everyone glared at Jack. Constance bared her teeth and spat.

"Thanks, Jack," Fitzwilliam said flatly.

"Don't blame me for that one!" Jack defended. "It was just a coincidence."

It continued to rain for a while, and every few minutes thunder tumbled the ground below or the sky would illuminate with lightening. Jean couldn't tell how long they've hiked for. Occasionally, he closed the compass and shook it, then reopening it to make sure it was correct. Arabella started a guessing game with the crew to pass time, however that became boring quick.

"Jean, ye said you don't remember yer parents very much, but what _do_ ye remember," Arabella inquired.

"Hm," Jean stopped and picked up his sister. The cat's fur was wet and matted from the rain. Jean tried his hardest to remember. "Well, I know Constance looked quite a lot like _ma mère_ , my mother, before she was turned into a cat. My parents cooked really amazing Creole dishes, too! _Mon père_ , my father, was a cook."

"I can see where you get your love for food, then," Arabella remarked.

"I never really thought about it, but that's true," Jean realized, petting his feline sister.

"Let's move on now, crew! Chop, chop!" Jack pressed, impatiently clapping his hands. The crew looked at him slightly pained at his sudden impatience and insensitivity. Jack cleared his throat. "Right, it's Jean's mission."

They pushed forward.

"If we find your parents, I hope they could cook us up a late night snack, or an early breakfast," Jack thought aloud in anticipation.

Arabella shook her head as she laughed. She lifted her dress as she stepped over roots and brush.

They did not move ahead for very long. Jack glanced forward and immediately froze. His face completely switched from wit and smugness to pure horror. Fitzwilliam was the second to see it as he held the lantern up. Arabella, Jean, and Tumen had registered what caused such terror in the two boys. The crew of the mighty _Barnacle_ had come upon a massive black bear!

" _Mon dieu_ , I haven't ever seen one of these in this part of Louisiana," Jean said in a very low voice.

The large bear stood only a few feet in front of the group as it stared them down.

"I didn't even know they can live in the tropics..." Arabella responded in an equally low voice.

"Mates," Jack whimpered, "whatever you do, just stay still and don't..."

The bear made a clicking noise with its mouth.

"RUN!" Fitzwilliam screamed.

Just then, the crew's only light source took off to the right. Jack tossed aside his walking stick and he and the rest of the crew ran right after Fitzwilliam. In response, the bear charged at them, chasing them through the forest.

Jack caught up to Fitzwilliam. "Are you bloody mad?!" Jack shouted at him. "The _last_ thing you're supposed to do is run from a blasted bear! I don't know anything about the world beyond what's at sea and _I_ know that!"

"Well, I'm sorry _I_ didn't know!" Fitzwilliam shouted back.

"It's _common sense!_ I thought you were at least a bit educated, being an _aristo-brat_ and all!" Jack argued.

"Just shut up and run faster!" Arabella yelled, carrying her dress as she ran.

Jean nearly caught up to Jack and Fitzwilliam. He had forgotten about the compass as he shoved it into his pocket before they took off, and he clutched his sister tightly in his arms.

Tumen was right behind them, muttering and cursing in his own native language.

The crew could barely see where they were running as their vision was blurred by the rain pouring harder than before. Jack ran ahead of Fitzwilliam as he was lighter on his feet. Suddenly, Jack disappeared into the ground. Fitzwilliam quickly noticed and skidded to stop. Jean, who was just behind them, didn't notice and he disappeared as well.

Jack tumbled down a very steep slope, hitting rocks and twigs and branches on the way down. He landed hard on his back, knocking out every bit of air from his lungs.

"Bugger," Jack managed to squeak out. He took a breath, but he found it painful to breathe.

His crew member Jean landed right after, instead landing on his face and stomach. He rolled onto his back in pain.

Jack sat up and looked around. He and Jean had fallen into a ditch, which he assumed was probably about fifteen feet deep and about the same length across.

Fitzwilliam casted the lantern over the edge of the ditch.

"Are ye two alright?" Arabella called out.

Jack patted himself down. Other than the impact on his lungs, he felt he had probably inflicted a few cuts and bruises, perhaps even tore some of his clothing a little, on the tumble down. Jack glanced over to Jean who had just groggily sat up and groaned, wiping blood away from his nose with his sleeve.

"We're fine and dandy here!" Jack called back.

Above, Fitzwilliam, Arabella, and Tumen heard something running from afar. The bear was still after them. The three looked at each other in terror.

"We have to get down!" Tumen shouted.

With no other options, the panicked teens knelt down and began to slide down the ditch. Fitzwilliam didn't care about his clothes being ruined anymore as he slid against the wet dirt and rocks. He held the lantern as steady as he could. Arabella's skirts tore against the branches and sticks poking out, resulting in her cursing in an unladylike manor. Tumen slid alongside them, looking up to make sure the bear wasn't directly above.

Jack and Jean were already up on their feet by the time the three landed. Jack gathered the crew together and they ran to the other side of the ditch, pressing their backs against the side. Fitzwilliam hid the lantern behind his back so they wouldn't be seen.

"Wait," Jean noticed something. "Where's my sister?" He realized Constance had leapt out of his arms right before he fell.

The crew could hear the bear's grunts and growls come closer.

Jean's eyes widened. "CONSTA—"

"Shush!" Jack swiftly put a hand over his mouth and pulled him back against the side.

The bear approached closer to the ditch as the crew trembled. Jack held his breath as the rain dragged his hair into his eyes. Arabella put a hand to her chest to feel her rapidly beating heart. Tumen repeatedly muttered, "I don't want to die," to himself. Fitzwilliam stood straight and put on a brave face, but in his eyes he seemed a bit worried as well. Then the growls suddenly ceased. The crew thought they had lost the bear until they heard new sounds. Sounds of something screaming, hissing, and spitting.

Jean ripped Jack's hand away from his mouth. "Constance!" Jean cried out.

The hissing and spitting continued, and the grunts of the bear slowly went away, its steps disappearing the further away it went. Everything went silent for a moment. Then they heard what sounded like little steps climbing down the side. Fitzwilliam held up the lantern to get a better look. The mysterious little steps was Constance effortlessly hopping from rock to branch down the slope, seemingly unharmed.

Jean grinned. "Constance, _ma sœur!_ " He ran over and collected the cat when she was close to the bottom. "You're all right!"

"And it looks like she scared the bear away," Tumen said with a smile.

"Oh, my sister! You saved us!" Jean exclaimed, cuddling her in his arms.

"Well, I'll be..." Jack trailed off, dumbfounded.

Jean gave Jack a look, as did everyone else.

Jack rolled his eyes. "All right, all right, good job," he said grudgingly. "Are we going to throw a party for the cat now?"

A smirk spread across Jean's face. "I think he wants to hold her."

Jack frantically shook his head. "No! No way! Never!"

"Oh course he wants to hold her," Fitzwilliam grinned evilly.

"Yeah, Jack," Arabella persuaded, "Be nice to her." She turned her head away and shuddered as she didn't really like the cat as well.

"Here you go, Jack!" Jean held Constance out towards Jack by under her forelegs, her scrawny little body stretching down.

"No, no, no!" Jack repeated. Jean placed Constance in Jack's hands, holding her the same way Jean did but with the cat facing the uncooperative captain.

"Awe!" the crew cooed together.

Jack frowned. Constance's bright yellow eyes stared into Jack's warm brown ones. The feline licked her chops, breathing an ungodly horrible breath in Jack's face. Jack grimaced, his brows furrowing and his upper lip curling up in disgust. Constance hissed at him and spat in his face in response, causing Jack to jump and drop the cat. Constance landed perfectly on her feet and trotted towards Jean. Everyone else laughed.

"All right, are we going to get to the whole 'finding your parents thing,' or what?" Jack asked impatiently, rubbing his hands together.

"Right!" Jean pulled the compass out from his pocket and opened it. Facing the direction they were running before they fell in the ditch, the compass pointed left. "It's pointing that way right now," Jean said, pointing in that direction, "but I think we should head adjacent from the other side of where we fell first so we're sure we lost the bear."

"Great! Let's get a move on, mates!" Jack said with enthusiasm.

Jack scaled up the other side of the ditch, grabbing onto rocks and branches as he went. He almost slipped a few times due to the dirt being wet from the rain. He reached the top and pulled himself up onto his feet. He surveyed the ditch as his crew climbed after him. Arabella emerged first, then Jean and Tumen. Constance hopped up with ease and Fitzwilliam climbed out last, carefully holding the lantern with one hand. Jack took the lantern as Fitzwilliam pulled himself out. The group collected themselves and continued their journey.

The teenaged crew detoured a bit before getting back to the direction they were initially going in. Jack and Jean were in the lead again with the lantern and the compass. Jack looked back every few minutes to check if everyone was still together. He had lost his walking stick, so all he had to rely on was the light and his feet to help them get through.

The rain did not stop, and neither did Jean's high spirits even after all they had went through. Everyone else was doubtful though.

"We're so far into this forest and haven't found any house, building, or any evidence of habitation. Why did the compass bring us all the way over here if there's no one around?" Fitzwilliam questioned Jean.

"They could have just removed themselves from society and moved to the middle of nowhere," Jack proposed. "Maybe in the middle of the forest or a bayou like Jean said."

"Now who in the right mind would do that, Jack?" Arabella asked.

"Tia Dalma?" Jack answered. "We as sailors, and pirates technically do that too, except out at sea rather than land."

"I think it's safe to say they are probably in another town over," Arabella reasoned.

"I just know that my parents are close. I can feel it," Jean said, full of hope. Constance meowed in agreement.

With a sudden burst of optimism, Jean took the lantern from Jack and ran ahead of them, Constance trailing just behind him.

"Jean! Wait!" Jack cried.

" _Mère! Père!_ Where are you?" Jean called out in the distance.

Jack and the rest of the crew stopped as they watched the light grow smaller. The light then disappeared, leaving them completely in the dark. They stood silently, waiting for Jean and Constance to come back.

Suddenly, they heard a loud, high-pitched scream coming from ahead, sounding very uncharacteristic for the normally cheerful Creole boy.

The crew was startled and frightened. Something could have happened to Jean and Constance! They ran until they froze at the point where they could see the light again—where they could see Jean in the distance.

Jean was on his knees with Constance next to him on his right, right by where he placed the lantern. They could hear Jean crying, however they didn't know the reason until a flash of lightening filled the sky, revealing what the lantern couldn't. On the ground were two skeletons laying together in front of Jean.

The crew gasped. Arabella's hands flew to her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. No one said a thing; they all drew to the same conclusion. Arabella shook herself free from her trance and ran over to Jean. Tumen was right behind her. Arabella fell to her knees and pulled him into a hug, gently rocking him.

"I want them back! I want them back!" Jean wailed, his body shaking as he sobbed into her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Jean. There's nothing we can do to bring them back," Arabella consoled, heartbroken herself.

Tumen knelt down next to them to comfort his distraught friend.

Jack and Fitzwilliam stood there bewildered at the sight. They broke free from their trances as well and slowly approached the scene. Jack crouched down on one knee next to them beside Constance.

"I'm sorry, mate," Jack said quietly. Any hint of cunning or smugness was completely gone from his voice.

Jack looked down at Constance, who looked back up with the most saddened look in her eyes. Her ears drooped down and she mewed sadly. Jack unreluctantly pet the cat a little. He glanced over to the compass that seemed to be dropped next to the lantern, pointing straight to the deceased. He then grabbed the lantern to take a closer look.

Jack held the lantern up, casting its light upon the remains. To his horror, it was more grotesque than what he initially saw. There wasn't just bones laying on the ground. Each body was held together by dried up, leather-like skin stretched over the bones. The empty sockets of one of the skeletons stared directly at Jack, causing him to shiver a little. Decaying clothes were also draped over their bodies and they still had a bit of hair on their heads.

Jack had seen a lot of dead, like at _Isla Esquelética_ on their first adventure. But this was a lot different. While all the dead he had seen before were hundreds of years old and reduced to almost nothing but bones, this dead was a lot more fresh—just about a few years old at the most. He almost felt like he was watching humans decompose right in front of his eyes.

"Do you think a bear probably attacked them or something?" Fitzwilliam asked, standing close by.

Jack studied the remains. Nothing indicated serious trauma to them. "No, it doesn't look like it," he responded.

"What could it be, then?" Fitzwilliam wondered.

Jack swallowed hard. He didn't want to admit he thought they may had been murdered. "I don't know..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **(A/N: I'd like to add that I straight up cried when I was writing the end part here even though I replayed it in my head multiple times before. I'm sorry Jean 😭)**


	3. Epilogue

When the crew of the _Barnacle_ returned to New Orleans that morning, they went straight to the police about their findings and word quickly spread around the city about the teenagers who found the corpses of two of their citizens that went missing years ago.

Arabella and Fitzwilliam had returned to the _Barnacle_ to change into clean and dry clothes. The priest for the local chapel wasn't in that day, so Fitzwilliam went out to search for one that would finally lay Jean and Constance's parents to rest. Meanwhile, Jack went to lead the officials to recover the remains, which Arabella assumed would take a while since their adventure the night before was a few hours long.

Tumen was comforting the grieving Jean and Constance inside the church with a crowd formed around them. Arabella didn't want to come in and disturb them, so she paced back and forth outside of the building.

After about three hours of waiting, a cart pulled by a couple of horses stopped in front of the chapel. The officials in the cart leapt off and carried two wooden coffins out.

Arabella stopped the officials as they carried the coffins towards the chapel. "Wait, are these the remains?"

" _Oui_ ," one of them responded.

"Where did Jack go?" she asked.

"He fell behind," the official answered in a heavy accent.

Arabella sighed. _Typical Jack..._

A few minutes later Fitzwilliam showed up with a priest.

"I found a priest who will perform the funeral," Fitzwilliam said. The priest spoke in French. Arabella looked to Fitzwilliam for a translation. "I believe he said something about money."

"Great," Arabella said drily. "Do ye know where Jack went?"

"I don't know," Fitzwilliam replied. The priest spoke again and Fitzwilliam translated. "Since it seems we're ahead of schedule, the service will begin in about ten minutes." Fitzwilliam went inside the church with the priest.

Arabella stayed outside and paced around again. She glanced toward the street and she suddenly saw a bright red weathered bandana rushing through the crowd.

"Oh good, it's Jack," Arabella breathed a sigh of relief.

Jack pushed his way out of the crowd and ran up to Arabella exhausted. "I am here," Jack announced, trying to catch a breath.

"Jack, what happened? Weren't ye supposed to be with the officials?" Arabella said, exasperated. She tried to sound angry, but she was still clearly shaken up from the night before.

"Oh that? Well, I was but I got a bit sidetracked," Jack answered quickly, glossing over her question.

"How did you get there and back so quickly? Our journey took hours last night," Arabella asked.

"It was a bit of a surprise when I found this out, but we actually took the long way around," Jack replied. "The officials took me down a bayou on a skiff to the swamp we crossed last night. Then, with the compass in hand, I led them straight to the spot we made our rather gruesome discovery at. The trip is a lot quicker during daytime, going on a boat ride, without a storm pounding on us, and without a big ugly beastie chasing us off course into a ditch."

"All right," Arabella said. "Do you have the compass?"

"Yes, about that," Jack put a hand in his pocket and looked away. "I don't have the compass anymore."

" _WHAT?_ " Arabella yelped, her eyes growing wide.

"That's a detail I was going to get into about when I got sidetracked," Jack explained. "I traded it in for another one." He then pulled a different compass out of his pocket. It looked a lot like the old one he had before. It was just another ordinary compass.

In shock, Arabella delicately took the compass and examined it. "But didn't ye want to use the compass for yourself? It obviously has special abilities and you could have used it to lead ye to your greatest desire. Maybe another, much bigger ship, loads of treasure, something powerful that could grant you immortality?"

Jack shrugged as his lips curled into a smirk. "Some things should probably be left undiscovered. It'll will come to me on its own. Besides, almost everything I could have ever wanted is already right here, love."

Arabella smiled. She had the urge to give her captain a hug, but she quickly remembered he was still wearing his dirty mud-soaked clothes, and he reeked of swamp water.

"We should go in. The service starts in a couple minutes," Arabella said, handing the new compass back to Jack.

"Aye," Jack took the compass and he and Arabella headed in the church together.


End file.
